Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 infection and fusion of CD4-negative human cell lines: induction and enhancement by soluble CD4. |
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| Authors: | P R Clapham A McKnight and R A Weiss |
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| Institution: | Chester Beatty Laboratories, Institute of Cancer Research, London, England. |
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| Abstract: | We describe human immunodeficiency type 2 (HIV-2) strains which induce cell-to-cell fusion and infect certain CD4- human cell lines. Soluble CD4 (sCD4) induces or enhances fusion by most HIV-2 strains tested. Soluble CD4-immunoglobulin G chimeras and conjugates of sCD4 and antibody to the third domain of CD4 block HIV-2 fusion of CD4- cells. We conclude that HIV-2 can enter CD4- cells via an alternative cell surface receptor to CD4. While some strains entered efficiently, others retained a dependency on an interaction with sCD4 to initiate changes in the virion envelope required for membrane fusion. |
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